Partners for Life
by Rhuffanon
Summary: When John pairs up with a temp from his local station to investigate the disappearance of a formally noted hostile girl, how will they grow together as partners? And more importantly, who the fuck even is Boss? (Includes strong language and a teeny tiny bit of gore, as well as slight pretty much one-sided Johndave.)
1. The Girl is Creepy

(Pre-story AN: So I am aware I have not been posting for a while, but hopefully this will clear a bit up and I'll try to have new chapters and stories uploaded soon [as well as my Jeanmarco Week Tumblr stories]! This was a private roleplay with one of my friends, but I have enjoyed it so much that I wish to share it with the public of Fanfiction! Enjoy~)

It was late one evening on the side of the road where a mildly tired police officer had just swerved his car off the road to avoid a young girl standing in his path. Perplexed, he got out and shoved her out onto the side as she stood and smiled at him.

"What, do you think you're funny?" The girl didn't answer, other than a short chuckle. He bent over to her level and pulled a small notepad from the deep pocket of his trench coat. "I'm going to have to call your parental guardians. Address? Phone Number? Last name? First?" He readied his pen and steadied his glasses, but the girl merely giggled again. "If you don't give me the information, kid, I'm gonna have to take you downtown." Again, another laugh met his threat. He stood up straight and sighed, putting the notes away. He did, however, take a mental of her appearance and the way she laughed. "Alright then, kid, I'm gonna have to take you in now." He pointed to the car and she stared at him and laughed again. "Get in the police car, girl." She didn't move and agitatedly, he walked over to the open door of his cruiser and turned on the radio.

"Yeah, we're gonna need some backup here, we've got a seemingly mental kid down here who won't give us any information. She just… laughs. We've got no info on her, we can't call anyone… And NO, we can't throw her into the streets, Paul- NO, WE CAN'T DO THAT EITHER. PAUL THAT IS ILLEGAL." He paused for a moment as the girl was suddenly leaning over his shoulder and giggling at him again. He gasped and almost fell into the car, but turned back to the radio. He began to whisper into the small handheld device and pushed the girl away from him. "Paul. Paul, she's scaring me." She fell on her bottom but then slowly turned to face him again, laughing again as before only receding into a more creepy form of it with pauses in between. He stared at her and shut the car door, keeping the window down.

"Uh, Paul… I need that backup now." There was a short pause, until static came over the radio. The officer panicked for a moment, beating the thing with his fist. "Haha Paul, stop joking around." The girl laughed at him from the window and he fell over, clutching the remote tightly. "PAUL. YOU LAZY MOTHERFUCKER," he cried. "I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE REQUESTED A DIFFERENT PARTNER." The girl continued to giggle at him. His voice faltered slightly and he calmed down instantly from the previous yelling. "Paul… tell my kids… you know the ones I don't have… that they're failures." He then proceeded to lay still and act like he was quite dead. The girl simply giggled once and then stopped laughing period, staring at him. He popped an eye open to face her.

"Can you talk now that I'm finally dead? Really? Are you fucking kidding me. Paul. Are you hearing this bullshit?" The girl smiled at him simply this time and waited for another response. He stared at her suspiciously and got out again, as he forced her into the back seat of the police cruiser. "You know what, I'm driving to headquarters. Just wait until Boss hears about this one." He sneered at her by use of his mirrors as he got in himself. "Fuck you."

"Given the choice right now, I would gladly pounce on you and rip out your throat with razor-like teeth and then break the windshield and run away like a wolf, but I won't."

"The fuck did you just say?!" She stared at him in the mirror like she had said nothing and smiled again. He mumbled bitterly to himself, thinking of all the things they could do to this seemingly murderous girl. And the fact that she had just talked but would not again angered him even more.

As soon as they arrived at the station, he grabbed her by the collar and walked briskly into HQ with a determined, agitated look on his face. He sped straight into the boss's office, holding up the still-grinning girl.

"BOSS. LOOK AT ME. I'M DEAD. SHE WON'T TALK. PAUL'S A LAZY ASSHOLE. NOW WHAT," he panted. At the moment, he wasn't sure if he should be exhausted or annoyed. The boss examined the girl for a moment, stroking his blonde goatee and leaning in his chair.

"Well John, I do not think you are dead." John huffed and lowered the girl slightly, looking away. "Secondly, uh… What threat is the girl posing exactly?"

"DID YOU NOT HEAR IT? THAT, THAT THREAT?!"

"Uh…" The girl beamed at the man sitting in the chair. "No?" John pulled out a recording device existing in the car at the time of the drive and sped up to the part where the girl was talking. He played it over at least twice before staring back at Boss with a rather crazy look in his eye.

"THIS LITTLE BITCH. BOSS, I SWEAR TO GOD. AND WHERE IS PAUL, I NEED TO KICK HIS ASS."

"Um, Paul is dead John."

"WHAT. BOSS HOW." John didn't stop yelling but he looked more concerned than angry now.

"Well he… We don't know. He's just gone."

"WELL… Well, how do you know for sure that he's… dead? How do you know he isn't just taking a vacation or something?"

"His vitals have just… stopped. He's in the hospital wing, John, if you would like to say a few words." They were both silent for a moment, and John looked up but avoided the gaze of Boss.

"…He was a lazy son of a bitch. But are you sure, Boss? This isn't some big station joke, is it?"

"No John. Paul is totally dead. Totaled, if you will."

"What about his wife? His kids?! What about his responsibilities, Boss? Who will take all of that now?"

"They'll be passed onto our temp and your new partner, David." John paced hurriedly for a second, thinking.

"Who's this David? Where can is he? Why isn't he here right now helping you and me?"

"He is currently getting coffee for us, but for the record he likes to be called Dave."

"Are you all like… friends or something?"

"Yeah… you could say that. Not working out on the field, I see the temps a lot."

"Yeah, yeah," John chided. "We all know that. 'Specially after that girly temp you hit on for weeks." He crossed his arms and Boss chuckled, remembering the month.

"Hahaha, yeah. I heard she works as a prostitute in Jamaica now." John shifted uncomfortably and then looked down, noticing there was no longer a girl standing next to him and smiling at any given moment. He looked around frantically for a bit and then became flustered once more.

"Well, that's great and all Boss but, uh… where's the girl? And our coffee? Don't tell me we lost the fucking girl." They both examined the room further, but the girl was mysteriously gone without another trace.

"Hmm… well, she ain't ours anymore, John. DAVE, SON." A boy with surprisingly white, slightly messy hair and a set of dark shades concealing his eyes appeared at the door, holding a Starbucks drink tray. He moved as silently as Boss did and seemed to have a nice affiliation with the color red, as possessed by his sneakers and sweater. The fact that his black jeans were tighter than normal (but not entirely skinny) added to an air of aloofness that John saw nowhere else. "Have you seen the girl? And give us our coffee." Dave shook his head and walked over, handing them both one of the warm containers of coffee. John stared at Dave for a second longer after accepting the drink with a simple thank-you, and then looked over at Boss curiously.

"Wait, Dave is your _son_, Boss? Why didn't you tell me that?"

"Because if I did then I would give away my personality. But don't worry, the boy won't tell you a thing." Dave stood silently at his father's side, displaying nothing but indifference towards the two older men in the room. John adjusted his glasses slightly, watching Dave silently in his corner of the room, and he erupted into another spout about how important the case was at hand.

"Ohhh, I see now. Dave is just like that crazy, homicidal bitch, he doesn't talk either! Maybe you all should become friends, oh, if only we could FUCKING FIND HER." Boss watched him and adjusted his own, pointed sunglasses underneath his grey cap.

"Hey now, John, he talks, he's just silent because I embarrass him, eh boy?" Boss nudged Dave on the side but he did not move. Boss cleared his throat quietly and turned back to John. "Now, maybe you take Dave along and see if you can find the girl, John, but keep your head level, alright?"

"Ugh, fine." Boss kicked them both out of the office and shut the door after, believing they had an idea for what they were doing. "But can we please hurry up and find her? To be honest, I'm not exactly excited for this. I just found out today that my partner died, our deadly suspect runs away, and Boss leaves us all here alone. Let's just go." Dave nodded at him and they started off in the direction of the dark part of the office where nobody worked anymore.

(Oh gosh this first chapter is long, gomen aaah. But anyways, hope you like it and reviews are always welcomed!)


	2. The Back of the Station is Creepy

(Thank you to those that favorited, reviewed, and also a thanks to our first follower! You rock so much. ^-^)

"So, where are we going first, David?" John turned to look at the slightly shorter boy following him from the corner of his eye, to see if his facial expression had changed at all; it had not. "Do you think she's even still in the station?" Dave shrugged.

"Possibility. And Dave, man." John nodded and faced the front again as they continued to walk, shadows formed by the dim lights of the station tugging at each passing object.

"We should probably check the front out first, then move to the back. Maybe she's hiding in a closet or something…? Oh, and sorry about that, Dave." John slowed down in his slightest to walk side by side with Dave, who shoved his hands into his pockets and blew a stray strand of light hair out of his face. He shook his head at John and continued to look at the floor in front of him.

"Nah, it's fine. But why would she. She think it's a game?" John chuckled to himself and adjusted his glasses slightly.

"Pfft, she'd probably love to jump out of a goddamn closet and just laugh at someone." He grimaced, sneaking a peek over at his new partner's face. He seemed completely collected, in comparison to John's unnerved feeling in his gut that maybe the girl was following them this whole time. He swallowed silently, facing the front again. "Speaking of being scared, doesn't she scare you, at least a little bit?"

"Well I haven't seen her yet, so…"

"Yeah, but didn't you hear us talking about her? Or me, you know, coming in so rushed and disoriented?" Dave turned to face him for a second, but then trained his eyes on the ground again.

"Hmm, yeah. She seems pretty tame though, she didn't hurt anyone." John was silent for a second, but slowly became the slightest bit agitated that no one was listening. Hesitantly, he pulled out the recorder again, as Dave watched and listened to the girl talk quietly over the voice recording.

"Do I really need to go through this again? And all the laughter!" He put the device away and threw up his arms in frustration. Dave crossed his arms and turned to face John with an optimistic look on his face, beneath the dark shades.

"…Do you have any proof she can do those things? Does she really have razor teeth? And John, just try and tell me that you have never laughed at stupid adults." John stared at the ground in front, quiet for a moment more. He noticed Dave was looking over at him with the same expression and he turned his eyes away as far as they would go.

"Well… no. I guess not. But I bet she can bite pretty hard!" He turned to look back over at Dave, who merely shrugged at him. They continued walking silently for the next few minutes, until John stopped to look around at the dark station slowly beginning to engulf them. They were losing the lighted front of the place to search, and would eventually have to recede back into the desolate, gloomy rear hallways of the base, of which there was not a thing to be seen; it was almost completely abandoned back there.

It was easily after seven or eight and the station was almost completely empty, save for the two men on the girl's case and Boss. The rest of the officers were either out working at night (which was unlikely), or at home sleeping or staying up late watching anime and stuff. That's where John wanted to be right then anyway, up late and chilling on his new couch, preferably under a blanket, catching up on the four-hundred Doctor Who episodes he still had left to watch, or even simply reading a good book. Either way, he did not want to be out that late on the cold and dark night of the Second of December. It hurt even more to know that his previous partner was dead, and how good exactly would Boss's son be? He supposed he'd just have to wait and find out. He seemed quality enough, but who could go off of looks?

"Okay Dave, if she's not in the front, she'd better be in the back somewhere." He and Dave both looked down the long hallway proceeding into the darkness. "…In the cold, dark, empty back of the station… Do you think that's her natural habit?" He squinted almost angrily. Every vision of that girl plastered into his mind was something evil and he doubted anything could change that view.

Dave stared at him sarcastically, giving him a look that easily said 'Dude really.' "Probably not. What is she like five." John thought for a moment longer

"…I actually don't know what age she is. I've tried asking, but she wouldn't answer me. She just laughed." He shrugged. Dave turned away and put his foot up on a nearby chair, stretching his leg.

"Okay well. I'm guessing she's like five okay. Anyway, let's just go look." The two of them made their way further down the hallway slowly and in silence. The light was fading away with every step and there seemed to be quite a large surface area within the darkness.

As they moved on further, they began to notice a patch of pitch black up ahead that was unmatchable by their lack of flashlights, or any lights at all for that matter. They stopped to acknowledge the lack of illumination and John wondered why they even kept this part back here if nobody ever even used it. There were scarce instances that they had to use the interrogation rooms, or even come back to just grab something out of a supply closet that may have been missing in the front, but in the latter occurrence, they usually left quickly enough, as the descending darkness all around was not to anyone's liking in particular.

They stared right into the black gloom ahead, until John turned to the temp and motioned him forward. Dave stared at him. John motioned again. "How about you go first, Dave?" The boy in the sweater narrowed his eyes at John from underneath his dull sunglasses, and John turned back to the front of them with an air of false offense. "Just, being polite…" Dave nodded at him slightly, brightening up, and nudged him on the shoulder.

"Ladies first, eh John?" John glared at the smirk that came with this statement.

"I offered first, Dave." They continued to stare at each other until Dave sighed and faced the dimness again.

"Alright, alright, I'm goin,' scaredy cat." He hunched his shoulders ever so slightly and began to proceed into the shadows. He was gone for perhaps a minute before John began to look for his figure among the blackness and called out to him.

"Do you see anything? Or feel anything? Is she back there?" No answer met his ears immediately and John waited, wondering if maybe he was stalking something that needed quiet. Maybe he'd found the girl again and was simply waiting to capture her.

No sound came from the other side for a few minutes and John adjusted his glasses slightly to determine if he could see anything from within the obscured. He was about to call out to his partner again, until a slightly high-pitched scream sounded from within that caused him to jump. Maybe he was simply hearing things, but he could have sworn that the yell sounded like the boy who had been standing next to him not ten minutes ago. He panicked and yelled out.

"Dave? DAVE?! I can't lose two partners in one day!" He cried, bolting into the patch of black. He tore through, not exactly looking out for where he was going, until a tug on the shoulder spun him around to a stumbling stop and he faced, sure enough, the kid in the sunglasses. There was a small smirk plastered to his face, and that was easy enough to make out, even within the shade surrounding them.

"Sup, John." John continued to pant, examining every element of Dave before wiping down his face and straightening his glasses.

"Dave? What are you doing? What happened!? I heard you screaming!" Dave blew a strand of white out of his face and shifted his own glasses.

"Oh. That was a ploy to get you in here." He snapped light-heartedly and pointed at John, who was staring at him with a look of grim annoyance. "Partners forever, bro," he whispered, and John narrowed his eyes.

"God dammit, Dave," he sighed at him. "You should just be glad I would even come in here after you instead of being smart and leaving the station." Dave shrugged and then shifted his weight to look all the more sassy as he cocked his head at John.

"You realize she's probably not even a threat and you're overreacting because she laughed." John shook his head slowly, in a grave fashion.

"Dave, you don't understand. She doesn't even talk or anything. And she just stares at you! No words or anything! Just laughing!" Dave shrugged and turned away slightly, as if to dismiss the topic. "Also, you know what would've been a good idea instead of arguing over who'd go first? A flashlight. I can't see shit in here!"

"Yeah, probably," Dave shrugged. "For the record, you must be pretty blind then, since I'm wearing these." He fingered the sunglasses concealing his eyes. "And I can see why she's creepy and shit. But is creepy the same as dangerous, John?"

"It doesn't matter if it's the same, Dave, either way, it's not good for anyone. And how the hell can you even see in here?"

"I dunno, but there isn't much to bump into here, FYI. I don't see anyone, though." He put his hand on John's shoulder gently and began to lead him along through the darkness. He stopped suddenly, releasing John. "Hey, wait." He brought out his smartphone and tapped the flashlight app, turning it on pretty bright. He then handed the phone to his partner, who took it slowly. "Here."

"Uh, thanks." John ignored the fact that he'd been lead around by Dave in the first place and held the phone half-cautiously. They continued to move along, but saw nothing. As they were about to leave the blackened pit, they stopped to look around one more time. "So, since she's not back- Wait. We still have to check the closets and interrogation rooms back here, right?"

Dave nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, I'd say so. I think I see a supply room up ahead. Oh and, why is it so dark back here in the first place?"

"Well, I know you're new, but not that many people work here, you know. We don't really use these back rooms much, and, besides, it is really late to be at the station.

"Yeah… Do you ever actually interrogate people or store stuff back here?"

"I think we store like, cleaning supplies back here that we never touch. Also, if we have to interrogate people, we usually take them to the main downtown headquarters instead of this small local one." John shrugged and looked away slightly as they began back into the dark all over again. "Although, personally, I've never interrogated anyone."

"How long have you been working here?"

"Maybe about four, five years? I've kind of lost count. Police life isn't all exciting as it seems to be sometimes, you know?" Dave wiped his eyes on his sleeve and continued alongside John.

"Well, yeah. I can't compare much, though; I've never been out on the field, really. Y'ever help in a high speed chase?"

"Only this one time, I had to get a drunk driver off the road. That one was pretty dangerous, I guess… And please, I bet you've done more than just being a temp at a police station, Dave." John turned to look at Dave as he hesitated with his next sentence. Dave scratched the back of his neck slightly and looked away as the man facing him waited for his response.

"…Not really. I couldn't decide where to go come college, changed my major around a few times and settled on criminal justice. Worked at a few other stations, but they were uneventful and treated me like trash. So, naturally, my… dad, gave me a job, but he said I'd have to work to get higher, so here I am." John's eyes brightened slightly at his partner's bashful attitude, but he did not smile.

"So, what you're actually aiming for is a police officer position? Like, we could be actual coworkers one day?"

Dave's response was quick and he continued to look away from John. "Mhmm. That's what I want." John looked away himself this time, shrugging.

"Yeah, most temps _really_ want an officer position too. I've seen quite a few come and go, but since you're the boss's son, I think you do have an advantage here." Dave began to get noticeably tenser in the answer that followed.

"Well, I think he's going harder on me than the others but I dunno. I just wanna make him happy and proud, is all. We don't really see that much around my place." John noticed the sudden change in body language and immediately felt a small twinge of guilt for even mentioning it.

"Oh…. Sorry for bringing it up, Dave…" They were both silent for a moment, stopping only for a second to examine their surrounds and get the tension in the air to go away. "We should… Probably keep, looking for that girl."

"No, it's fine. And, yeah, here." Dave shook his head lightly and walked over to a nearby supply closet. He opened it up slowly, but the inside was empty. "Nothin' in here."

"Yeah…. Yeah, I guess so." They looked around further, but the rest of the place was barren of any activity. Once they figured they had checked everything, they approached the light again and John handed Dave's phone back to him. "Maybe we should just go look outside now?"

"Yeah, I think that's a good plan. She couldn't have gone far, right?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't exactly use the word 'fast' to describe her… We might have to use the patrol car to look around town if she's not around the station, though. After that, we'll probably have to call Boss. Sound alright?" Dave's eyes were alight as soon as he heard the mention of the squad car, but his facial expression did not change in the least and certainly there was no way John had looked past his cool façade.

"Fine with me. Lead the way, Mr…." Dave paused for a moment, coming to the conclusion that he did not formally know his partner's last name. John spoke quietly and smiled with an air of bashfulness.

"Egbert."

"Oh, uh, Mr. Egbert, heehee," Dave smiled and chuckled quietly for a small moment. John's own eyes brightened up at this and he grinned fully at his partner.

"Wow, Dave, I didn't know you had the ability to laugh!" Dave noticed he'd let this small instance go and his curving of the lips turned into something a bit more sheepish. He stared at the floor and John's smirk grew all the while.

"I… Don't like to laugh much I guess."

"Well, I think you should laugh more often, Dave." Dave looked up at him curiously, his voice perking up slightly as he pushed another stray hair out of his face.

"Why do you say that?" It was John's turn to look away this time.

"I dunno… It just, suits you really well I guess. I like it." John's own coy attitude grew slightly at the exchange. Dave smiled again, looking oddly pleased that somebody enjoyed his chuckle, and his grin this time seemed to light up the air around them.

"Thanks, man. I like it when you laugh, too." John chuckled lightly and turned to face the approaching doors. "…Now, let's get going, shall we?"

"Yes, we shall." They continued, bright and side-by-side, as they walked out of the dimly-lit station.


	3. The Parking Garage is Creepy (i guess)

(Okay this is gonna be one of the longest parts yet, so long that I have to split it up o_o'. Anyways, enjoy~)

"So, do you want to drive or should I?" John pushed his glasses further up onto his nose and shoved his hands into his pockets as he and his partner emerged into the frosty, winter air. As they hustled towards the squad car, his gaze turned to acknowledge Dave's thoughts. The man opposite him merely shrugged and faced forwards again.

"Uh, you probably should." John immediately climbed into the driver's seat and waited to see if the light blonde was following as he ambled around the front of the car. Door open, he stuck his head out to accommodate Dave in the darkness.

"Are you coming or not?" Dave turned to face him for a second and began to move a bit faster around the front, breath fanning thinly as he shuffled.

"Of course I'm coming," he mumbled, opening the door silently and slipping into the seat next to him. As soon as they were both buckled, John started up the car and listened to it rev and thaw in the chilly December night. It warmed up slightly in the small cruiser and John could already see a slack in Dave's shoulders that told him that he was warm enough.

"Alright, we'll check the town first…" John lowered his voice and looked over at his partner, flashing him a mischievous grin, usually not exclusive to one of his age and profession. "Should we turn the sirens on?" Dave thought about it for a moment, staring at the floor, and then faced him again.

"Well… it is like nine which means a good amount of people would be asleep…" John's attitude faltered slightly at the seriousness in Dave's voice, but soon the air was alight with playfulness unbeknownst to usual adultery again. "So, in short, yes, turn on the sirens." Dave raised the mood again with a little smirk, and John's grin returned again, accompanied by a little childish glint in his sparkly blue eyes.

"Well, if you're gonna become a police officer, Dave, you've gotta learn how to turn on police sirens!" His finger switched over to a small red button near the top of the dashboard in anticipation and his attitude intensified towards the guy sitting next to him. He bit down soundly on his lower lip in a front-teeth sort of grin and Dave couldn't help but stare as he slowly reached up to press the button. He just looked like… _Such a kid_. The combination of flashing lights and loud alarms going off made him jump away from the dashboard and he stared outside. John admired his reactions proudly, as if it was all his fault Dave was feeling.

"Holy shit, it's like being in the centre of heaven or something," he uttered, captivated. John was tempted not to laugh at his dorkitude, and so instead turned back to the front to officially ease the car forward. He started off into the downtown area where a lot of hype seemed to happen most of the time, even at night. The surrounding area of Manhattan wasn't exactly as formidably exciting as you would believe, especially The Bronx, which wasn't much compared to the rest of New York, but it was life after all, and anyone who was living there could tell you it was especially nice to be out of the clutter of the city.

It was a rather small rural area that they patrolled now, in which nothing usually happened other than maybe a drunk driving case, or a small missing party that was usually found with the following week, but every once in a while, the station they worked at had a bit of extra action included, though that was usually it. After that, it would go a bit dormant for a while, but it was still rightly exciting, nevertheless.

"Hopefully we don't have any noise complaints at the police station tomorrow. About the police officers," John added. "I don't think Boss would fire us… At least I think."

"Hopefully not. Either way, I think he'd be disappointed in me." Dave stared at the floor and John looked over at him sharply, half-pitying and half-denying.

"Your dad might be a little harsh on you sometimes, but I'm sure it's only for the best. After all, you are his son." Dave shifted uncomfortably in his seat, like he was debating with himself about something. John continued to look at the dark road in front of them, waiting patiently for his response.

"Well, actually, son… I mean, I'm not _really_ his son, he just refers to me as so because of the age difference and stuff…" Dave's voice was low and he looked away from John on all occasions. John stared, slightly taken aback and not exactly following, but he let the quiet boy continue. "Really he's my older brother. I think he wants to make sure my… o-our parents would be proud of him and me in every aspect of our lives, so he's just… Naturally harder on me." He fell silent and looked down to acknowledge his lap. He twiddled his fingers together as a guilty person would and waited, without alerting his attention to the man, for John to say something. Instead of inquiring about the whole sibling conundrum, he asked a much more personal question.

"Uh, what exactly happened to your parents?" Dave shifted once more and John immediately felt bad again for mentioning something he himself probably wouldn't be open about either.

"I don't know. Bro won't say anything."

"Oh… Sorry." They were both silent for a moment, and out of the corner of his eye, John could swear he saw Dave trying to adjust his sunglasses over his furrowed eyebrows, as if he were afraid that John would find out about his, in reality, not-so-aloofness, and judge him because of it. _Is he really that insecure, that he can't help but try and just _not _show emotion toward me? _

"No, it's alright. Let's just get this stuff done." John faced the front again, composing himself once more, and nodded breathily.

"Yeah, okay. Since we have the lights on, we should be able to find her out here. Hopefully."

"Yeah. Though I wonder if she'd just be wandering around outside?"

"Well, we could call around and ask if any store clerks have seen her, or get out and ask people around town."

"That'd be cool. For the record, though, you're in charge, Boss." At this comment, Dave gave John a cheeky grin and saluted his partner dumbly, who just smiled at him.

"Pfft, yeah, okay, Mr. Temp. The quickest way to find her would be to go on foot and ask around, so let's do that, as soon as I can park the damn car somewhere…" Both of their pairs of lookers searched the surrounding darkness for a building to park at, or even just a parking lot in general, but they saw none for a time. In slow time, they began to near the main city's larger buildings and skyscrapers, which were exceptionally pretty at this time of night. They drove in silence for a while longer, until Dave motioned for him to slow down.

"I see a parking garage over… There." He pointed out the large, stone structure proudly and smiled very slightly at his partner's reaction.

"Ugh, it's about time!" John drove up into the entrance of the garage, until the lowered bar stopped him in his position. They both sat and waited for a time, to see if the bar would open itself up, but it did not. Then it struck John; "…Wait, we have to pay for this? I didn't bring money! I just wanted to catch the girl!" He fumed silently at his stupidity and fumbled around in his pockets to see if he had any spare change lying in the trench coat, until a hand stopped him.

"Don't worry dude, here." It was Dave, holding out a slightly crumpled five-dollar bill. John stared at the green note for a split second, before changing out of the nasty butthurt attitude and into something more appropriate for the situation; he was _hesitating. _He didn't want Dave to waste his money on something like this, I mean, he was a temp, what kind of money did he make anyway?

"We really don't have to park here! We can park somewhere else… I think I saw like, two open parking spots back there!" He turned around to scope out a small parking lot in front of a local business not a mile behind. Dave ushered away his hand tried to force the little slip into his grasp.

"John, calm down, it's fine. It's only five bucks." '_He's making a big deal as if I were trying to force a million dollars into his grasp,' _he thought-added.

"Yeah, but you _need_ that money! You're a _temp, _Dave. Do you even get paid?" John, admittedly, was staring at his partner's expression to him getting so worked up and antsy over nothing. The fact of the matter was, he didn't really mind that Dave wanted to help pay for it. It was that Dave _had _the money and he did not.

"No, it's coffee shop money. That's where I work when I'm not at the station." Jon sat in brutal silence for a while, trying to portray to him a stare that said _'Fuck you sideways wit inch cactus for having money when I do not you god damn cool guy.' _

"Yes, I'm completely sure, now just take my damn money." He flailed his wrist with the bill slightly.

"Ugh, fine." John snatched the bill out of his partner's hand and paid the machine with a quiet anger, slowly going through the line afterwards and looking around for a spot.

"No problem dude, of course."

"Next time, I'll make sure to bring money with me!"

"Nah, you're fine. You didn't know and neither did I, don't sweat it." John looked away, grumbling softly to himself.

"…I guess it's fine for now, but I've gotta be more prepared next time. That's kind of my job, after all. I can't have you pay for everything, you know."

"And why can't you have me pay for everything?" John was a little surprised at the completely non-threatening retort sent his way just then. _CAUSE YOU POOR AS DIRT, BOY. _

"Well… I'm technically in a higher position than you, and therefore… Have more responsibilities. Like being prepared for situations. Also, you have to work at two jobs to make five bucks." _PLUS YOU POOR AS DIRT BOY._

"Hey, this isn't all I have. I have fifty more in here from tips alone these past weeks." He took a moment to show him his coffee money, and they both admired the scent of espresso still lingering on the soft paper texture. _Well… you still poor as dirt, boy. _"…And what if I want to be more prepared than you?" John stared at him, confused as to why Dave might make it a competition to be more prepared than an actual officer. He turned back to the front, trying to look stern.

"I wasn't trying to say that you can't be more prepared than me, just that I'm expected by people to be prepared for most situations."

"Well that's _most, _not all." John looked away again, furrowing his brow.

"It's just… Kind of embarrassing to have someone younger than you pay for things, I guess."

"How old are you anyways?"

"…Well, how old are you, Dave?"

"I asked you first, Mr. Egbert."

"I asked you second, Mr… Dave. I don't believe I learned your last name?"

"Strider, sir. But, as I was saying, being the subordinate of this relationship, I believe you would do me better to state your age first." John stared at him bleakly for a moment, and tried to look as professional and snarky as he could.

"Well, if you insist that I state mine first, I'll tell you. But you have to tell me yours afterwards."

"Yeah yeah, I will, blah blah get on with it." John squared himself to face Dave, and put his arms behind his back in a _very _professional fashion, even bothering to pull over and stop the car.

"Three-zero. Thirty years old. Now, your turn Mr. Strider." Dave crossed his arms and slouched slightly in his seat in effect to look more chill.

"Twenty-one, Sir Egbert." John gave him a pleasantly puzzled look accompanied by a small smile and he shoved his hands into his pockets, sitting neatly for a moment.

"Oh, knock it off with all the Sirs and Misters, _David. _Makes me feel even older than I am." Dave gave him a small smirk and shrugged at him very slowly and carefully.

"Well you are like nine years older than me, get with the times you old coot." John opened his mouth to say something, but it turned into an open-mouth are-you-kidding-me kind of grin. Dave shrugged at him and shut up for a second, realizing that that was probably not the right choice of phrase. John shook his head and they both turned to the front again, still holding that was-that-a-thing-just-said smile. "Er, why don't we just go park, John."

"Alright." John's smile faded into a mellow kind of expression, but it didn't look all _that _happy. His partner noticed this and almost felt a little remorse for calling him old, but he figured he'd get over it. After all, it was just playing around… really.

"I think I see a space over there," he said quietly, pointing to an open square relatively close to the stairs. Within another moment of silence, John parked the car and got out, stretching and waiting for Dave to get out. The younger man soon left the vehicle himself and went to stand by John, looking around at the surrounding parking garage. The lights were dim, but the buildings around and across the street were still visible, not only with their own lights, but also with the faint glow caused by the stone residence they stood in now. John placed his hands into his pockets as Dave crossed his arms for warmth, and the two stood looking around further, trying to decide where to go. They were silent for a bit, until John spoke up and addressed the issue directly.

"Okay, where to start…" He looked over at his partner to see if he had any ideas, but Dave merely shrugged and looked back at him. Their eyes met and they stared a while longer, until John looked away again to examine their surroundings for the billionth time. They began to approach the stairs at a slow pace, the mood brightening up slightly just like the lights around them were not. "I guess we'll start at whatever's closest and move from there?" Dave shrugged.

"Sure thing, Egbert." John adjusted his glasses on his nose and stopped at the top of the stairs, looking at the ground below. The night around was relatively peaceful, but the air was tense in the dimming light and the mysteriosity of the disappearing girl.

"I'm starting to think we're never gonna catch that creepy ass girl," he uttered. Dave shrugged again, as if this was no big deal.

"So what if we don't. Again, I'll ask if you have any proof that she has ever murdered anyone." John flashed him an annoyed look and turned back to the front.

"She THREATENED to kill me, isn't that enough? Are we gonna wait until she actually _does_ kill someone? And how do we know she hasn't killed someone prior to her encounter with me?"

"Wouldn't you have found that person and declared them dead. Isn't that your job."

"Well… the murders could have gone unreported so far… or could've been committed in another area."

"How would they have been unreported if the person knew someone. I find it highly unlikely that a person murdered would be a nobody. Adding to that, why would that girl have a reason to kill anyway? I mean it's not like there was a story about an escaped mental patient or anything." John grimaced, brow furrowing. Sure, Dave was making a point or two, but either way, he was almost positive a death threat, especially one of that nature, was chargeable.

"Murders go unreported typically when no one knows something is wrong. And as to where the girl came from, I have no idea. Once again, she wouldn't tell me when I asked her."

"But even then, wouldn't a person's friends get suspicious if they weren't picking up phone calls or coming out of their house or anything like that?" John turned to look at him and reply in a rather grim fashion that just spelled _'you don't understand.'_

"Some people don't have friends or family that call to check in, or for any other reason." His face became more serious and he straightened up and faced Dave directly. His look seemed almost disappointed, but he continued to look at Dave gravely and quietly. "…I'm starting to think maybe you shouldn't have come with me, Dave." Dave's own look let up slightly and he looked disappointed, but in himself.

"I…" He was silent for a moment, staring at the ground and shuffling his feet nervously. He spoke quietly, faltering slightly. "I see."

"I mean, if all you're going to do is question the search, you're kind of hindering the progress." John crossed his arms and continued to stare at his partner, who had tensed up a considerable amount. Dave hunched over from the shoulders and continued to stare at the ground, fixing his sunglasses slightly.

"…All I'm saying is I don't understand why a little girl would kill people. But if you want me to leave, I will." He spoke quietly, and these last phrases were said firmly and without falter. Silently, he turned towards the road and, crossing his arms, began to walk away from John.

"Dave? Where are you even going? How are you gonna get back?" John's own tone was firm as well, but his attitude had let up considerably.

"I'm gonna walk. Have fun with your search." Dave pulled the neck of his sweater up over his mouth and stuck his hands into his pockets. He continued to walk away from John, who stared at him like he was crazy. His annoyance had subsided and now he was debating whether he was going to officially leave or not. "Maybe I'll walk home."

"Dave, wait! It's freezing out here, you can't walk all the way home!" He held an arm out to him and moved forward slightly, but Dave did not turn around, nor did his pace decrease.

"Yeah I can." _Watch me._

"Stop being stupid, no you can't! You'll be killed by the cold, if the girl doesn't get you first!"

"I'll survive, John. Hitch-hiking's always an option. Oh, and here, you can have this back." He stopped and turned for a split second to… toss a walkie talkie back at John, who caught it barely but continued to stare at him. His gaze was piercing and his voice returned with an angry sort of are-you-kidding-me tone.

"Dave. You are a cute twenty-one year-old boy out late at night, and you're telling me you're going to go fucking _hitch-hiking?_ I didn't want you to leave the search, I just wanted you to stop doubting it!" Dave stopped for a second and turned to look at him soundly. John met his eyes with a fierce gaze, holding his ground.

"…Did you just call me cute." At this comment, John's attitude faltered slightly and his shoulders loosened up a bit. He looked at the ground to the right of him for a second and then looked back up at him.

"Uh… No. I said it's dangerous to go hitch-hiking this late at night!" Dave faced the road again but did not continue to walk as he had before.

"Done it before, not that hard. And John, you did doubt yourself on bringing me along." He turned back to John sideways but kept his eyes trained on the ground in front. He shrugged slightly and kept his hands in his pockets softly. "Sounds to me like I can be of no use."

"Dave, look, I'm sorry, just please don't walk home or go hitch-hiking," John pleaded with him. "And you can be of use, I know, you already have been, many times. I'm sorry. I just got frustrated." Dave sighed and looked at the ground in front of him again.

"No it's okay. I'll come along and stop talking." He switched around silently on his heels and then slowly began to walk towards John again. John's expression faltered again and he couldn't stay mad anymore.

"You uh, don't have to stop talking, Dave. I like listening to you talk. Let's just, try not to be so negative?" Dave blew a strand of hair out of his face and stared further at John.

"I thought I was being positive in the first place when I was saying people may not have died." John turned away from him, as to ignore him, and Dave stared agitatedly at the back of his head.

"Let's go ask around now, okay?" John pulled a small smile and turned back around to face Dave, who merely sighed and walked towards him.

"Alright, whatever."

"So Dave, stairs or elevator?" Dave suddenly looked very bothered, and he avoided the gaze of John very slightly.

"Uh… You pick." John almost smirked at this immediate change in attitude, but held back to make it look like he was sincere and he hadn't picked up.

"I insist." Dave's hand switched around to grab at the back of his neck and he continued to look away from John again, pulling on a half-scared expression as he shifted nervously on his feet. John waited calmly for his response, and finally, he turned back to look at John, hunched over and tense.

"Uh, ah, um… How about the, eh, elevator."

"Are you SURE you don't wanna take the stairs, Dave?" John smirked now, especially since Dave had gotten the tiniest bit paler and slightly more flustered-looking.

"P-positive why are you pressuring me." John laughed light-heartedly and stepped onto the elevator quietly, motioning for Dave to follow. It was clear the guy in the sunglasses was very bothered in talking about each of the modes of transportation, but John did not give. Dave stepped quickly and nervously onto the elevator right after him and jumped away from the doors as they snapped shut.

"Haha, I'm just teasing you, Dave. So, why don't you like stairs? Traumatic experience?" John smiled over at him, but Dave did not smile back, hunching his shoulders up.

"Uh, yeah… Elevators aren't much to my liking either but stairs are worse I think." He swallowed and fidgeted slightly as John pressed the groundfloor button.

"Ah, yeah, elevators are kinda scary with the whole weight limit and snapping cords thing. But stairs? Why are those scary?" Dave pressed himself up against the wall uncomfortably and straightened his sunglasses, staring at the floor with the same expression.

"Ah, well… I was walking down a pretty long flight of steps once with a friend in college, the dude trips and falls the rest of the way, almost snaps his n-neck, but there was so much blood and he was so close to death that it just… Snapped my liking of the steps. L-like those elevator cords, or his neck, eh." The elevator seemed to be moving as slow as it could possibly go as John's smile faded and they continued to descend onto the ground floor. Dave was even paler than before, and was pressed harshly and tensely up against the opposite wall of the elevator. John frowned, thinking that that was, indeed, terrible.

"Oh gosh… I didn't know you had such a bad reason. Let's hurry the hell outta this elevator."

"Mmm."

The metal box continued to slowly sink into what felt like the depths of Hell surrounding them, although the air was freezing around them. Early December was still fucking freezing this time of year, and neither of them seemed to take this lightly. Dave continued to look like a toddler about to piss his pants and John merely stared at him, getting more unnerved by the minute in thinking about why he would hate elevators as well. Dave felt John's eyes trained on him and looked up for a minute to accommodate his gaze back, which, once acknowledged, fell to the floor to the left of him. The elevator jerked slightly, implying they were almost there, and he pressed tighter up against the wall, if that was even possible. Was it just him, or was the air inside of the elevator heating up dangerously? No, it was definitely still freezing, but, oh, everything was starting to get blurry and-

"Alright Dave, after ten minutes, we're finally on the ground floor!" John laughed nervously and made his way off the elevator as soon as it came to a jerky stop and the doors pried themselves open. Dave stumbled after quickly and almost rammed into him from behind because he was trying to leave as fast as possible. John ignored this kindly and looked around the rest of the parking garage, trying to make out anywhere that looked important. "So where first, do y'think?" Dave squinted in the darkness, shoving his hands into his pockets again.

"Uh, well, looks like there's the town hall place or whatever over there. We could try there first and then head over to the small businesses," he said quietly, clearing his throat. John rolled his eyes.

"Okay, let's go ask if the mayor has seen her. I'm _sure _she snuck her into town hall."

"Sure then." Dave started off in the direction of the official-looking building and managed to compose himself back into the cool guy façade he always held as soon as they were away from the elevator. The moment he passed by John, however, a foot was stuck out in front of him and before he could say anything, John had tripped him and he was spinning towards the ground.

"Smooth."

"Fuck, shit, John-" As soon as his head was anywhere near the ground, he ducked himself into half a ball and rolled over across the ground until he jumped up onto his feet in another instant. "Jesus man, so nice," he growled. John rolled his eyes again and continued to walk alongside his partner.

"Yeah, yeah. Real slick, Dave."

"Come on, you." Dave punched him playfully in the shoulder, giving him an almost half-angry grin and adjusting his sunglasses further up onto his nose. John grinned back and stretched slightly, rubbing an eye.

"If I tried that, I'd probably break a god damn hip. You'd be calling 911 and I'd be on a stretcher before you could say 'Life Alert.'"

"Oh come on, it's not like you're fifty or something, be honest here." Dave smirked over at him again ever so slightly and John bit his lower lip, squinting.

"Well, I feel like I am, working with such a young person."

"Dude I'm not even ten years younger than you and you look like you're like, twenty-four or some shit." John looked up and over at Dave, eyes lighting up slightly.

"…You really think so?"

"Well yeah, you're just like, really cool and hilarious but professional as hell at the same time." John faced the ground for a moment and then looked back up at him, almost flustered and with a small red tint to his cheeks.

"Oh, well, I didn't know you thought that. Thank you. You know Dave, you're pretty cool and funny as well." Dave gave him an official, genuine smile in what felt like forever, and, for once, the air surrounding them was not as cold, nor as tense.

"Thanks, man. So, creepy girl… Do you remember what she looked like?"

"She had, long I guess, dark hair, and thick-rimmed circular glasses. Oh and, bright green eyes."

"Okay, uh… how old do you think she was?"

"Like… 13, maybe 14? 15, tops."

"Okay then, I guess she's older than I thought."

"How old did you think she was?"

"Like, five or something." John looked over at him, confused.

"How in the world could a five year old even function properly if they were wandering about like her? Not to mention it's freezing out here."

"Well, to me you describe her as some sort of demon who is set out to devour the human race or whatever with her razor sharp teeth and what not. Superhuman, if you will." Dave shrugged and John continued to look at him confusedly.

"But why would you think of a five year old?"

"I dunno, that was just my perception." John looked at him funny and slowly began to smile, cocking his brow.

"Did you have some traumatic experiences with five year olds?" Dave glared at him, but soon after cocked a brow back at him, giving another sassy weight hip-shift.

"What the heck man," he grunted. "Yes, my college friend was five and he fell down the stairs and broke his five year old neck. In college. Yeah." John put on a sad face and tried to look pitying, little traces of jokesterness slipping through his bright gaze every now and then.

"Oh… I'm really sorry about that." Dave smiled at him and playfully nudged him on the arm, giving a short little chuckle. John just smirked back at him.

"Haha, shut up dude."

"Alright alright, let's go into town hall." The two of them, side-by-side, made their way up to the double doors enclosing the darkening building, and they stopped for a moment to examine the vastness of the place. The windows were completely blackened out on the inside, save for the short bit of moonlight leaking out onto the floor in the openings. Not a thing stirred within, and there was a pit of dread waiting to be explore that most blatantly spelled bad news for the both of them. It did not look like a fun place to explore, but what more did they have? Time to face the beast head on now, and make sure the job gets done.

(this chapter makes me so angry like they dIDNt even do aNYThING? it took them like five THOUSAND WORDS to get out of a friggin parking garage like god dammit jwhskgind)


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